Bengals Beat: Sticking With Joe Mixon, Appreciating Samaje Perine, The Unknown Around Deshaun Watson

CINCINNATI — No one appreciates the recent success of Samaje Perine more than Joe Burrow.

“He’s been unbelievable for us,” Burrow said Wednesday. “If there’s nothing there in the run, he still gets us three. That doesn’t sound like a lot but that means everything. When you’re staying ahead of the chains. He’s great with the checkdowns, getting you six or seven or eight (yards), getting first downs after contact. He’s just been so good for us. I’m so happy that he’s made the most of this opportunity.”

Indeed, Perine became the first Bengals running back in team history with three touchdown receptions in the 37-30 win over the Steelers. He added another rushing touchdown against the Titans in the 20-16 win on Nov. 27. And on Sunday, in the 27-24 win over Kansas City, Perine rushed for 106 yards on 21 carries, catching six passes on seven targets for 49 yards.

Perine has been downright indispensable with the loss of Joe Mixon to a concussion for the last two and a half games.

But it’s important to remember that since the Bengals moved more to a “gap” scheme rather than the “wide zone” that offensive line coach Frank Pollack was brought back to usher in, Mixon has been running with more authority, especially in red zone opportunities.

Consider in his last full game – against Carolina on Nov. 6 – Mixon set a franchise record with five touchdowns, including four on the ground. Zac Taylor certainly understands this and wants Mixon – a trusted veteran – to know he always has a place in the Bengals offense.

“I think it’s good to have guys in that room that all carry the load,” Zac Taylor said. “And again, Joe Mixon is our starting running back. In the last (full) game he played in, he had five touchdowns, tremendous effort. And Samaje has done a really good job filling in. And so, to have those two guys that you’ve got a lot of confidence in, whatever the moment calls for, we think that’s very valuable to have, especially going into this late season stretch, and hopefully beyond that.”

Mixon is the No. 1 feature back in the Bengals offense, and the Bengals staff want everyone – including Mixon – to know that as he likely returns to action this week against the Browns.

“I think it matters to guys who start,” offensive coordinator Brian Callahan told me. “I think that’s people. I think that matters to some degree. But for us, no, it doesn’t ultimately matter. Guys are going to get their carries and their touches. With Samaje, he’s fully capable of being a starting caliber running back in this league. But that’s not to say that his role hasn’t been a huge for us all year in the third down roles and the protection roles.

“And he’s been fantastic and those doesn’t get enough notice or recognition for him. But now that you see him, getting more touches and more carries, he’s shown how capable of a player that he is. But we’re going to use all the guys we got. We’re going to need all of them. There’s still a lot of football to be played. We’ve got five weeks left plus hopefully a handful of games in January, February, and it’s physical. And we’re going to need both those guys to play well and one half or so. They’re both going to get their chances and opportunities.”

There’s no reason to think the Bengals should shy away from using both down the stretch. Having two productive feature backs is not a problem on a team with no ego problems. There’s even the possibility, though not featured prominently, that the Bengals go with a rare ’21’ look, where the Bengals put Mixon and Perine out on the field in second and third down situations to make it more difficult for defenses to key on one particular back.

“I think that Joe’s going to still be the he’s still our starting back and he’s still going to carry the ball the way he’s carried the ball,” Callahan said. “And we’ll find places for somebody to help us because he can help us. And I think that that’s what good teams do and good coaches do is the guys that can help you, you find the things that they do well and you let him do them. So there’s things that somebody does really well. There’s certain runs as major runs well that even even when Joe was playing, we still rotate somebody in on some of those things as well early on. So it’s not really a new process for us. Nothing really changes in that regard.”

Perine is not the explosive runner that Mixon is but his consistency – in his runs and his assignments – is something that is valued greatly by the coaching staff.

“Samaje, again, you talk about consistency, so it’s so critical to have guys like that on the team that whatever you ask them to do, you know that they’re gonna understand what you’re asking, and they’re gonna do it to their full potential,” Taylor said. “Whether it’s in special teams, protection, or catching the football in the backfield, we’ve been getting first and second down carries by Samaje. You’re always getting his best in that consistency and that’s what we appreciate.”

Then there’s the Perine Taylor and the team sees off the field.

“Sure. He leads by example. He’s got the respect of everybody here because of how he handles his business,” Taylor told me. “Again, you know what you’re getting every single day that you get him. He’s a great family man, wife, kids, they live outside of Norman, so we have similar acquaintances that we’ve come across over the years. And I just respect how he conducts a lot of his business. The other players do too. Not everyone has to be that vocal ‘ra-ra,’ loud when they’re in the room type of guy. He’s got that quiet leadership to him that we all appreciate.”

Wilcox time:

While Zac Taylor wouldn’t completely rule out Hayden Hurst playing this weekend with a strained right calf (stopping at listing him as doubtful), it’s likely that Mitchell Wilcox and Devin Asiasi will have to pick up a bulk of the load in both receiving and blocking assignments.

“I think that Mitch has gotten better with every single game he’s played here,” Taylor said. “I think he’s really locked in. He has a great understanding of how to improve his game as a tight end. That’s been awesome to see. I think Devin Asiasi has come along as well these last couple of weeks. He’s getting more of a role and more opportunity. He’s doing everything he can to make the most of it. Like you mentioned, we’ve got two guys on the practice squad too. It’s a good group that I see continued development from every opportunity James (Casey) gets to coach those guys. They continue to get better.”

Wilcox, who caught one pass on one target for 13 yards and a first down, played 52 of 72 snaps last week, a season high after Hurst went down in the first quarter.

Preparing for Watson Hard to Figure:

Deshaun Watson plays his second game this Sunday since returning from his 11-game league-imposed suspension. Last week, he completed just 12-of-22 passes for 131 yards and a 53.4 passer rating. The Browns won, 27-14, but it was hardly because of crisp quarterback play. Two years ago, when Brandon Allen completed 29-of-37 for 371 yards and two touchdowns in Cincinnati’s 37-31 win, Watson completed 24-of-31 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns.

“It’s only been one game, to be honest with you. I can’t speak for what their intentions are with that,” Taylor said. “He’s had a lot of success doing certain things. You see a little bit of elements of that, but it’s only been one game. It’s hard to speak on what exactly they are going to look like. I’m sure it will evolve as it goes.

“It’s hard to predict. We don’t know what they are practicing, they’ve established themselves as a really good offense in this league for a long time. There’s staples that they’ve got, that they lean on — still have a great offensive line, great back, really talented receivers — things that have been there identity for a long time. I’m sure there’s give and take on things they want to continue to evolve with, with him and things that they’ve hung their hat and been successful over multiple different teams and coaching staff and coach Stefanski and Bill Callahan and all all those guys, Alex Van Pelt, they’ve been successful doing this stuff for a long time and I’m sure that’s still a big part of what they wan to do.”

Welcome back Huber:

Kevin Huber was brought back to the organization on Wednesday when the team re-signed the 14-year NFL punter to the practice squad. He will back up Drue Chrisman in practice and – as he did on Wednesday – split the punting reps in practice.

“Well, there’s a lot of value for Kevin (on the PS),” Taylor said. “He’s got so much experience in this league. He’s got such great character, first of all, to be willing to help the guy that’s taken over for him in Drue. He’s been there since they’ve been competing. He’s been there for him since Kevin had the job, and now that Drue has taken over, Kevin still has been right there by his side to give him any feedback, any advice and Darrin obviously is arguably the best special teams coordinator in the NFL. We think he is. So, there’s so much knowledge that he can give to Drue. But nothing can replace him actually doing it for the 14 years that Kevin did it. Just to have that in our building, as well, we thought was critical and valuable to have on our practice squad, and Kevin is willing to do that. And so we’re thankful he accepted that opportunity. He will continue to punt at practice and continue to help Drue and all those young guys we have in that room, like Cal (Adomitis) and Evan (McPherson). His experience is valuable to all those guys.”

Cordell Volson not looking like a rookie:

When offensive line coach Frank Pollack first put eyes on left guard Cordell Volson’s tape from North Dakota State and then spoke to him in person, he knew he had a guy that could fit right into the Bengals’ offensive line plans this season. Brian Callahan explained why Pollack was right to have such confidence right from the start in the spring.

“It’s never been too big for him even from the beginning,” Callahan said. “And he’s got exactly the type of makeup, personality wise that you’re looking for, for those positions. He is a really big when you walk up next to him, you understand how he’s big. He’s a big human being. He’s very strong and he’s had a long learning curve to get to technique down that is required to play inside at the NFL level. And I’ve been really impressed how quickly that’s happened for a guy who’s played a small school, was a tackle, and now plays NFL guard and then he’s playing against Chris Jones and Jeffrey Simmons and Cam Heyward. And his his learning curve has been steep, but he’s answered it quickly. But he’s done a good job of digesting it and then being able to execute it, which for a young player from a small school is pretty rare, I think. There’s not a lot of guys that could do that.”

The fact that Volson has handled things at a level far beyond his experience is a big reason for the Bengals’ dramatic improvement in both pass protection and run-game improvement from last season.

“I think it’s helped us. When you’re talking about run game and the downhill running game and the gap schemes, you know you’ve got to have guys that are stout and can move double teams and move people off the line of scrimmage and get in the fit and really try to get the line of scrimmage set on the other side. And he’s done that,” Callahan said. “And those three guys inside have allowed our run game to be so much better than it’s been because we’re able to move the line of scrimmage and they’re physical and they’re big and they’re tough.

“And those things mean a lot when it comes to being able to run the ball. And that’s the biggest difference. And then just the pass protection part is he’s so big and strong, doesn’t get pushed back into the quarterback. So the width of our pocket, the firmness of the middle of the pocket has been one of the things that we probably missed last year. And it allows Joe (Burrow) to stand in the pocket and make decisions and not have to worry about the push coming in front of him. And it also allows him lanes to escape. And I think that’s you add all those things up and it’s it’s it has a tremendous impact on your ability to move the ball.”

Again, Callahan gave full marks to Frank Pollack for identifying a rookie who could fit in with the veterans like Jonah Williams on his left and center Ted Karras on his right.

“It’s why he’s had a success he’s had so quickly because of how he’s has mental make up,” Callahan said. “It is how he approaches his job. It’s one of the things that Frank identified in the draft. And Cordell was one of the guys that Frank had had earmarked as one. You know, this is a guy that I would want to have here and coach. Most offensive line coaches usually probably identify about five guys that they actually like in the draft. That’s just how they are.

“They don’t like the scout stuff. They just they watch the film and they decide who they like. And it’s pretty, pretty common everywhere ever been. They usually find a handful of guys. They would only like these four guys as well. We’re going to have to draft, you know, might have to have a bigger pool, but that’s just they’re very firm on those things. And offensive line coaches know what they want and other type players are looking for. And Frank identified quite early on, particularly with his mental makeup, that that’s the type of player that he wanted to have in the room. And he’s been exactly what really Frank thought he would be for us in that regard.”